I had the opposite experience when I purchased my aftermarket grip for my D300. I paid $49 for the grip and it was built just as well as Nikon's with more functionality. It was very solid with multiple battery options, a better joystick and I don't have remove it when using a tri-pod. As with all things we need to know what we are purchasing before buying. Usually history of the company products are pretty predictive of build and quality.